by Dale Mayer
Tracy’s eyes widened as she realized the implications. She lowered her voice, looking around hurriedly. “You really think he would try to attack us here?”
“It’s always possible, “Alina said. “But why would they at this point? Surely the game is up. They should be cutting their losses and running.”
Tracy frowned. “He said something about they were out of time.” She shook her head. “He actually apologized.”
Alina nodded. “That would make sense. After I was rescued, you were snatched to take my place. You weren’t exactly on their list for this go-round.” She leaned forward and said, “Is there anything else? Some information that would help the cops find the rest of this ring?”
Tracy lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, as if trying to remember. “So much of it is all a blur.”
“I know. If we had a location, a house, if he referred to anything, it would be huge.”
“He said something about a truck. As in, we have to catch the truck.”
Alina sat back and considered that. “A truck. Like a big transporter? Like they must move you? Moving into Mexico, Canada, or to a private airplane?”
Tracy shook her head. “I can’t imagine. I’m so grateful not to be there.”
“I know how you feel. I hurt for the other women. They’ve been gone a long time. The last one was taken three months ago.” Alina winced at the concept, but it made a lot more sense. “Then they just put you in a truck and meet up with the others. That could be anywhere from California to Florida. It wouldn’t take that long, and traveling by land in a private vehicle, it would be much harder to see a woman either sleeping in the passenger side or tied up in the back of a truck—even a normal pickup with a canopy.”
Tracy nodded. “He was quite insistent about the time frame. He said I was his big break.”
“That’s because his brother, Joe, had been involved before but was killed a year ago. If John had any idea how to get in touch with these people, then he’d have a chance to step into his brother’s shoes. Joe was making anywhere from ten to fifteen thousand for each woman. So was Colin.”
Tracy looked at her and said something surprising. “Am I worth so little?”
“You’re worth an awful lot. And they are paying that much just to one leg of this ring. Imagine what both of us would have been sold off for at the end.”
Tracy said, her voice low, “Honestly I don’t want to find out.”
Alina shook her head. “Neither do I.” Then she turned and stared off. “I was actually held for several days. Although I live in Somerville, I was taken from the hospital where we worked. I don’t think I can go back there. It’s bad enough to be looking over your shoulder, but to think that I was actually snatched from the cafeteria there …” She shook her head. “Truthfully, I don’t think I can stay.”
Tracy nodded. “Right about now, all I can think about is going home to my family in Salem.” She shook her head and added, “My mom was right. Big cities are dangerous.”
“I think it happens everywhere. We just got very unlucky.”
“Why us?”
“Whether they were looking for small women to begin with, I’m not sure. But, being our size, we fit into the suitcases the men moved us around in.”
“I didn’t think such a thing was possible.”
“Well, I was there when they opened the suitcase and found you. And it was quite a job to get you extricated.”
Tracy let her breath out. “I’m definitely going home now.”
“Did you call your parents?”
“The hospital did. My mom’s on her way here.”
“Good for you. That’ll help you get over this. I’m sure your local town has a hospital too. Apply there.”
“That’s what my mom said.” She cast a glance over at Alina and said, “I’m only twenty-two. To think that my life would have ended in such a horrendous manner…”
“I don’t think they were looking to kill us. They were selling us as slaves.”
Tracy shuddered. “How can this even exist in today’s world? Things like that shouldn’t be allowed.”
Adding a note of humor, Alina said, “It’s not. But not everybody follows the rules.”
Tracy stared at the phone in Alina’s hand. “I hope they catch him.”
“I hope they catch all of them.” Alina glanced around nervously. “I’m constantly looking over my shoulder.” She shook her head. “I wonder how long it will take for that to go away?”
“How long has this been going on? How could the police not know?”
Alina leaned forward and whispered, “I was thinking about that. But I don’t want to consider that some cops might be involved. Still…it’s hard not to wonder.”
Tracy curled up in a ball as if that concept was too much for her.
Alina realized Tracy was correct. She really needed to go back home and live with her parents. Return to a life where there had been innocence. She would likely never feel that way again, but at least she missed the couple of days tied up like Alina was.
She settled back in the chair and said, “Just sleep. I’ll watch over you.”
With a grateful smile, the two women still holding hands, Tracy let her eyes drift closed. Alina wished she could sleep away the next few hours too. But her stomach was knotted, and her nerves were frayed. Every second she kept checking her phone for an update. Of course, they were all busy doing whatever they needed to. She wanted this to be over with. But what she wanted most was to make sure the bad guys were caught.
She settled into her chair, resting her head against the back, her mind free-floating on the concept that a cop was involved. Most were good honest, upright citizens. But often all it took was one bad apple. And in a position like that, he would have access to so much information. Including the list of names to research. The cop could’ve found where she lived, who she loved, where she’d worked, how long she’d been employed there, any tickets or arrests. Including the fact she lived alone. If nobody would really note her absence, then she’d be one more missing person. And there were literally thousands of those in every big city.
As she sat thinking about how many of the missing women might be due to human trafficking rings, she was overwhelmed. Then a nurse came and checked on Tracy. She gave Alina a smile and said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? We have some here at the nurses’ station. I can get you one if you’d like.”
Alina smiled at her gratefully. “Thank you. That would be lovely.”
The nurse came back with a cup and handed it to her. “We will be moving her down to a different room on the other end. There has been a large multicar pileup. We need all the beds in emergency we can get. It’s a couple doors down on the far side, so expect an orderly to come in and move her soon. Okay?” And she left.
The thought of a multicar pileup made her cringe. That car chase she’d already been in earlier had been bad enough. She hoped Logan and Harrison weren’t part of it. That none of the cops involved in this case were. Everyone was trying so hard to catch this guy; it would be terrible if something happened.
To think they had met John face-to-face, and he’d handed over his brother’s crap. Playing the innocent … And it had worked.
Now she waited for the orderly to move Tracy. Alina didn’t want Tracy waking up on her own. Alina sipped her coffee and waited. Still no update from Logan. She itched to text him and ask how things were, but if he hadn’t turned his phone off, she didn’t want to be the one who got him in trouble when it rang and gave away his position or something. Not the time for her to be pushing things. He would call when he could.
Then two orderlies came in, smiled at her and pulled up the side rails on Tracy’s bed.
She nodded to them, set her cup of coffee down and stood. “I’m coming with you.”
The orderly smiled and nodded. “We’re only going down a few doors.”
“Good. I don’t want her to wake up alone.”
They took Tracy to
a big open room and set her up on the far side against the wall. Alina paced the room until they were done. No chair was here for her, so she leaned against the window and waited.
When nobody came along with furniture, she walked toward a nurse, asking if she could take a chair from the outside hallway into the room. The nurse smiled and told her to go ahead. She grabbed it, walked back to the room and found Tracy still sleeping.
She slipped out into the hallway again and saw a public washroom a few feet down the hall. When she was done, she washed her hands and looked in the mirror. Using a brush from her purse, she gave her hair a quick taming, put it into a braid, tied it off, and gave her face a wash, then headed back to Tracy’s room.
Before she stepped back into the large room, one of the nurses called to her. “Tracy’s mother arrived. They want a few moments.”
Right. That made sense. She glanced around and decided she should probably go to the waiting room outside emergency then. “If you see either of them, let them know I’m in the waiting room. I don’t want to intrude.”
The nurse smiled and nodded, then said, “Good idea.”
Alina went to the waiting room and sat. Now she wasn’t connected to Tracy or Logan. Surely she could do something.
With that thought, she rose and paced. Then decided to walk the hallways. She’d never been in this hospital, but most of them were of a similar construction.
She walked the corridor, determined to wear off some of the festering energy inside. When she came back around to Tracy’s room, the door was partially open. She peeked inside to see if her mom was still there but found both Tracy and her mom gone. Her mom hadn’t wasted any time in taking Tracy away. Alina didn’t blame her, but she’d hoped she’d be able to say good-bye. Dispirited she walked to the nurses’ station and said, “I see they left. I was hoping to say good-bye.”
The nurse looked up. Only it was a different nurse. She gave Alina a distracted look and said, “Sorry, people are coming and going all the time.”
She heard the sirens, and the nurse bolted. Coming in were the multicar pileup victims. Now quite perturbed, Alina walked back to the waiting room and slid down in a chair, the only one left. The waiting room had filled abruptly. She could do nothing to help; all she could do was wait for Logan to contact her. With Tracy gone, she was at loose ends. She pulled out her phone, studied it and wondered if it was worth taking a chance, then decided what the hell. She sent a text to Logan.
Tracy’s gone home with her mom. I’m stuck at the hospital. Any idea when you’ll be done? After she sent the text, she settled back to wait.
Logan sat behind the gas station, waiting to see if the vehicle arrived to meet up with the cop pretending to be Lingam. The suitcase, now filled with rocks for weight, was stashed in the back of the car. They never did get clearance for the female cop to be part of the sting. Hopefully they wouldn’t need her.
So far, the vehicle hadn’t shown up. The police hadn’t been given much time to get their people organized. They had cops spread out all over the end of the mall. Also, a couple ghost cars were hidden throughout. Too many black-and-whites and people get nervous. Then a vehicle drove up. It looked like a work truck, but it didn’t have a canopy over the back. Instead it had what looked like foot lockers. As he eyed the size of them, he realized it was a little too easy to imagine one of these women stuffed into them.
He shook his head, thinking that nobody would even think to check something like that. As the truck drove up and parked on the side, a man hopped out and walked around to the back while another went behind the truck cab to unlock on one of the big storage tool chests. Logan recognized him from the photos. It was one of the four men: Barry Ferguson. That was three down and one to go. The man popped open the lid and lifted out a toolbox tray. A full-size truck and that toolbox was at least five feet long, if not six. They could easily fit a woman inside and cover her up. Well, it wasn’t happening this time.
He could see Harrison approach from the far side, walking casually, as if heading to the stores on the other end. He stepped within sight of a couple of the guys looking in his direction, but they didn’t appear to notice much. The two guys walked over to the car, slammed on it hard and yelled, “Come on. Open up. We don’t have time for this shit.”
The cop lowered the window and popped the trunk. The men carefully brought out the suitcase and carried it to the truck.
From Logan’s position, he imagined they were ready to open the suitcase. But Harrison came up behind them with the cop on the far side and said in calm low voices, “Get on your knees. Hands over your head.”
The men froze. Logan raced toward them. He knew they wouldn’t lie down quietly. They were facing lifetimes in prison for what they’d done. No way they’d give up easily.
One of the men pulled a gun. Logan fired first and so did Harrison. Other shots were fired from various angles. Logan hid behind the truck to get out of range. Harrison remained with the two bad guys, now wounded and lying on the ground, but they were still alive, swearing fast and furiously.
Logan came around the side of the truck, only to see another gunman running toward the car. He was afraid for the cop. It was not exactly a good place to get caught. He creeped around the front of the truck and looked, but he was on the far side of the getaway car now.
The cop had the driver’s door open and was hiding behind it. But he probably didn’t know the guy was on the other side. As Logan raced toward them, the gunman stood, leaned over the car and lined up for his shot. Logan shot him first.
Logan raced to the cop, sighed and asked, “You okay?”
The cop nodded. “Yes, I’m fine, but that was damned close.”
Logan walked over to the man. He’d shot him high in the chest and didn’t know if he would make it or not. He checked for a pulse. “We need an ambulance here. Three of them at least.” He glanced around as the other cops started to come out. “Did we get them all?”
But he could see another policeman peeling off, racing after yet another man. Another cop gave chase from a different angle. Even as he watched, the last man went down under one of them.
Logan walked over to the truck with the large foot lockers. With several cops at his side, he hopped up in the bed. All three foot lockers were padlocked. Hard to tell if any had breathing holes without more light. Grabbing a hammer from the toolbox, Logan broke off all the padlocks. Then raised the lid on each locker. With a flashlight, he shone the light inside.
And found terrified eyes staring at him. In each trunk. A total of three sets.
He heard the cops around him cry out and two policemen joined him in the truck bed. One leaned down and carefully lifted a woman up. He called out, “We need an ambulance. Looks like we found the missing women.”
Cheers rang out. The other two were lifted free and lowered to the ground as the men carefully removed the gags from their mouths, untied their bonds, then massaged their joints to get the blood circulating again until the ambulances arrived.
Logan sat on the tailgate of the truck, staring at the ugly spaces where they’d been imprisoned. The thought of Alina transported in a locker made his heart ache.
A cop walked over, holding up a phone, then said, “It’s for you.”
Logan grabbed it then held it to his ear to hear Detective Easterly saying, “We found him. He went back into his old house. He was ready to jump ship. But we got him.”
“That’s damn good news.” Logan laughed. “Actually, that’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time. We’ve got three bad guys down here and one on the run. Your men are after him. So, with any luck we can get him too.” His gave a happy sigh. “And, as I’m sure you’ve heard, we’ve found the missing women, so today has been a great day.”
Chapter 15
Alina, once again back in the waiting room, heard her phone buzz. She clicked on it to see a text message from Logan.
We’ve got three bad guys, including Lingam, looking for one more. Found the miss
ing women—all alive and well. Looks like we’re wrapping up. I’ll call you in about ten minutes.
She smiled. She wished Tracy was still here so she could send her the good news. Maybe she still could. Maybe the nurses had her phone number. She rose and walked to the nurses’ station. “I know Tracy left with her mom, and you probably can’t give me any personal information, but I forgot to get her phone number, and I heard from the police they caught three of the men involved in the human trafficking ring. I wanted to give her the good news.”
The nurses exchanged glances and said, “We can’t give out any personal information.”
Alina nodded. “That’s what I thought. Okay, I’ll call my supervisor and see if I can get it from her.”
She walked down the hallway to the exit. Once outside she put a call through to Selena. When she answered, Alina quickly filled her in. Selena was shocked at the news. When she calmed down enough to understand, Alina filled her in on the rest of the details, explaining how the cops had picked up the rest of the ring but one, and they were tracking that one down now.
“Tracy was just here. She left with her mom, and I forgot to get a phone number from her. I wanted to tell her they’ve caught a lot of people, so she’ll hopefully feel safer now. Do you have a cell I can send a text to?”
Selena muttered, “I shouldn’t. You know that.”
“I spent three hours sitting at her bedside talking to her. It was my fault I forgot to get it. But honestly I don’t think anybody would mind.”
“Fine. But you can’t tell her where you got it from.” Selena rattled off the number.
Alina wrote it down on the receipt she found inside her purse. “Okay, got it.” When she hung up, she added Tracy’s number to her contact list, then sent her a text explaining in short form that three of the ringleaders were accounted for, and the cops were chasing down the fourth. Then remembered to shoot her another text regarding Lingam’s capture and that it looked like things were wrapping up today.